Working Out
by YunaDax
Summary: John convinced Elizabeth to undergo fitness and combat training after the incident with Kolya in The Storm
1. Chapter 1

Title - Working Out

Rating - PG13 (at the moment)

Disclaimer - I'm only borrowing them.

Completed - Hell no...

Dr Elizabeth Weir was not one to complain, nor was she one to let others see she was hurting, either mentally or physically. Atlantis depended on her ability as a leader, and until recently that hadn't be an issue. Until Kolya had tried to kidnap her and hold her for ransom during the storm. Never had she felt so vulnerable, dependant on Sheppard to rescue her and free them all from the siege of the Genii.

Clasping the warm mug between her hands she leant back in her chair for a moment, glancing at the mission report she had been reading over. A cold hard account of the facts from Sheppard had been thorough and complete, although Elizabeth couldn't help but feel he had worded things delicately, particularly when he recounted how Kolya had announced he'd killed her. Blowing her nose again she cursed the freezing rain she and Rodney had been forced to work in, more or less with a gun to their heads as they repaired the final grounding station. She'd caught a rotten cold and had battled it for days, now only dealing with the last lingering effects over a week later.

She looked up as John Sheppard entered her office, waltzing through the doors and plonking himself down in one of the chairs opposite her desk as he so often did. He'd actually left her alone for a few days since the incident with Kolya, and she was unsure as to why exactly. They'd both been busy since the storm, relocating the Athosians back to the settlement plus making repairs to the city.

" I've been thinking..." He announced, scrolling through the pages of a something he had written on his PDA.

A thousand quick witted remarks flashed through Elizabeth's mind, but she settled on a simple

" Really?"

" Yeah... really" He replied, keeping the expression as neutral as he could. " We need to talk about getting you some training... in self defence" He put delicately. Risking a glance away from his PDA towards her face. Any embarrassment she may have felt she kept away from her face, a raised eyebrow his only reward.

" I see, and what brought this on?" She replied, keeping her features schooled into a look that was more interest and not hidden shame. Truth be told she hated the vulnerable feeling that had overtaken her during the crisis. To be forced into submission simply because she didn't know how to defend herself at the right moment had nearly cost her her life. If Sheppard had missed....

He looked at her carefully, regarding her expression as she carefully tried to conceal it. He knew the experience of being held hostage had had an effect on her, but he didn't know the extent of it. Rather than play upon her vulnerabilities he decided to lighten the mood somewhat.

" Well the whole business with Kolya could have been avoided if you'd just whacked him one the moment he came onto the base" He quipped, earning a half hearted smile from her. He knew the reality was far from what had actually happened, but the intent was the same. She didn't respond and he knew he had hit home. It was one of his jobs to protect her, but if he was taken out of the picture for whatever reason, it would help if she could look after herself in a tense situation.

He rose and skirted round the edge of her desk, perching on the side closest to her. Flicking back to the original page on his PDA he showed her the small screen, indicating a few items here and there that he thought she may appreciate.

" I want to start you on a fitness regime, I wrote a program that will work on both your endurance and your strength, and in conjunction with that, both Teyla and myself will be giving you self defence lessons" John said, figuring he'd come this far that he may as well blurt it all out.

" You organised this with Teyla without even consulting me first?" She replied with a little attitude, a little miffed that he had kept her out of the loop until the very end. He shrugged, knowing her small outburst would have been coming. If he'd seen Elizabeth first... they wouldn't be having this conversation as she would have talked her way out of it. He handed her the PDA and she flicked through the first page or so.

Elizabeth looked at the first week of the regime that was displayed on the PDA, a mix of cardio, weight and balance training that was more likely going to leave her sore and begging for mercy before it improved her fitness. She did however note that he had left her weekly Yoga class intact, a small mercy perhaps. It was the one piece of exercise she made time to fit into her schedule on a semi-regular basis, and was run by one of the counselling staff. The hour long sessions left her feeling flexible, energised, centred and more often than not sore the next day. Somehow she had the feeling that 'sore' was going to become a regular part of her vocabulary.

She almost wasn't game to flick over to the second week of her so called training, which mixed the basis of the first week with additional defensive training. Hand to hand combat, basic weapons handling and sparring sessions all added to the sense of impending doom that seemed to loom over her. There was no way she was going to fit in all this training PLUS get all her work done, and find time to eat and sleep as well.

" It looks allot more than it actually is" John started to explain, seeing her expression fall as she continued to read. " Once we get your basic fitness up, the cardio sessions will be replaced with sparring session, its just the initial few weeks that are gonna be... busy" He put carefully, flashing his irresistible smile that he knew would get him away with cold blooded murder if he wanted to.

Elizabeth knew this had been coming since the storm, and knew it had been playing on John's mind since then. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. She needed to know how to handle and defend herself, even if she didn't get off world much. The city wasn't always safe and she'd found that out the hard way.

" Oh well, least I'll be able to eat what I want now" She quirked an eyebrow at him again, lightening the mood that had been shrouding her mind in misery.

" There is that" He smiled, relieved that she had somewhat accepted his proposal without too much of a fight. He would have tried to insist, citing her safety as his main concern, but thankfully he didn't have to play that card. Not yet anyway.

" When do you plan on starting this... tour of hell?" She asked tiredly, running a hand through her hair. She glanced at him, and prayed he wouldn't say anytime soon.

" Tomorrow.. 0600 hours, meet me on the east pier" He said smugly and bailed out of her office before she could reply. Damn him...

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMERS -- See Chapter 1

She met him on the East Pier at 0600 hours as he had requested, decked out in a t-shirt, some comfortable tracksuit pants, and the only pair of joggers she owned. Truth be told the outfit was generally what she wore when she managed to fit in her Yoga class, this pants wide and flexible allowing her the freedom of movement she needed for the exercise. She idly wished she'd brought something a little more akin to the heavier workout that John seemed to have planned for her. As she strolled down the long pier towards him he seemed almost amused that she hadn't stood him up, or made some last minute excuse to cancel their training. Inwardly she wished she had.

" I see you decided not to stand me up" He quipped, flashing that smile of his that could win her over for just about anything.

" I can't say that I didn't think about it" Elizabeth replied truthfully, admitting to how much she hadn't been looking forward to this. She had trouble sleeping at the best of times, but the thought of running herself ragged, quite literally had counteracted her most trusted relaxation techniques. Somehow she knew that after John was finished with her, she'd sleep through anything.

" Right, first up are some simple stretches, then we'll go for a light run and see how fit you are" John suggested, rolling out two thin foam mats on the concrete so they would bruise. He led her through a series of stretches designed to lengthen and strengthen the key muscles groups, and was amazed at how flexible she was, a tribute to the Yoga sessions she had been doing. She kept pace with him easily, making sure she held the stretches for the correct period of time before progressing to the next muscle group. A short time later they were jogging along the pier, John setting a somewhat more sedate pace than his usual runs with Ronon.

To her credit she managed to keep up with him for the first 15 minutes before the colour began to rise dramatically in her face and her breathing became more ragged. Still she refused to admit she was hurting until John noticed and slowed their pace somewhat, settling into what could only be described as a power walk until she got her breath back. They alternated this way for another 45 minutes, running as far as she could handle, then dropping back to a walk until she recovered. They neared the gym and Elizabeth almost groaned, wiping the sweat from her face with the back of her forearm.

" You gotta be kidding" She complained as the doors revealed a fully kitted out weights gym, complete with free weights and resistance machines.

" Would I kid?" John quipped, raising an eyebrow at her and grabbing one of the towels he had stashed there before meeting Elizabeth and tossing one across to her. She nodded in thanks before wiping her face and neck again, sucking in deep lung fulls of air as she did so. She headed for the water cooler off to one side and poured herself a cup, sipping on the cool water in an effort to lower her body temperature and re-hydrate.

For the next hour John took her through a series of weights exercises, from bicep curls, crunches, push-ups to squats. By the end of it Elizabeth's muscles burned from the abuse, unaccustomed to having to work so hard. They cooled down and stretched, leaving Elizabeth 30 minutes for a shower before their 0900 staff meeting.

" Let me warn you, you're gonna hurt like hell tonight" John said apologetically " But you can abuse me for it when we go through the first of the self defence tutorials, 2100 hours in the target range"

For once Elizabeth didn't have a comeback, too physically stuffed from the last two hours to even think straight. She headed over and drained another cup of water, sculling the cool liquid to quench her rather sizable thirst. She nodded and hoped that would appease him before grabbing the towel and heading back to her quarters for a nice hot shower and the breakfast she'd skipped in order to get to her training session on time.

The shower was a lot briefer than she would have liked and as she pulled on her uniform, she mused over what was to come during the day. There was rarely a day when something didn't go wrong, or something unexpected didn't happen, and somehow Elizabeth didn't want to have to deal with it today. She stopped by the commissary on the way to her office and grabbed a sandwich for breakfast, along with a coffee and a bottle of water for later. Juggling all three plus her PDA she plonked behind her desk, sipping the hot coffee and pulling the wrapper off her sandwich. Teyla dropped in a short time later with her latest mission report, raising an eyebrow at the sight of Elizabeth actually eating breakfast.

" I take it your first session with John went well?" The Athosian asked as her boss tucked into her sandwich.

" I don't feel it as much now, but I've got a funny feeling tonight is not going to be pleasant" Elizabeth replied between mouthfuls.

" It does get better, I assure you" Telya replied with a reassuring smile and moved on to discussing the mission report she had just submitted.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully for a change, allowing Elizabeth to take the afternoon off and soak in the hot tub. The warm water rejuvenated her sore muscles and eased some of the aches, leaving her feeling as though she could tackle this evenings combat / self defence session without fear of dropping whatever weapon John put in her hands. The effects were somewhat only temporary though, and much to her disappointment the aches returned within a fairly short order.

Thankfully John had decided on weapons training for the evening session, lining up a series of commonly used hand weapons on a table near the shooting range. Everything from a 9mm to a P90, an ancient stunner to a tazer were on display and ready for use. He'd planned to use this session mainly familiarising Elizabeth with the mechanics of the weapons, so she could identify, dismantle and clean them if necessary. The doors swished open just before 2100hours, revealing a rather drained and sore Elizabeth, looking as though she wanted to do nothing more than curl up in bed and sleep for a week. Feeling a tad sorry for her John mentally reduced the session to weapons familiarisation, and would catch up on the rest at a later date when she wasn't at risk of falling asleep on him.

An hour later she was comfortable handling the weapons, knowing how to carry and holster then, and even had a few attempts at firing the 9mm. Her aim was off , something John attributed to her obviously sore muscles, but it was something they could improve on later. Stepping over after she'd emptied the clip he watched as she secured the weapon again, glancing towards him as if looking for his approval that she was doing everything correctly.

" Very good" He said proudly, somewhat astounded by how quickly she had picked up using the weapon despite her aversion to them. She handed him the weapon and winced as the movement pulled on her stiff shoulders. A hint of concern coloured John's features, and once he'd quickly replaced the weapons back in the armoury next door, he returned to ask just how badly she was hurting.

" Shoulders and hamstrings?" He asked as he caught her trying to massage one of her shoulders with the opposite hand.

" And everything in between" She grumbled, a wry smile the only indication of humour.

" Sit down, I'll rub your shoulders for a bit" He said carefully, half wondering if she would actually accept his offer of a massage. Truth be told he had thought her attractive since the moment he'd laid eyes on her, but had kept it professional for both their sakes. Every time she'd been hurt though, he'd felt responsible. Especially as now he had been the direct cause of it.

With a sigh she flopped on one of the chair by the wall, rolling her shoulders to ease the tension. He stood behind her, resting his hands on the tops of her shoulders for a moment before beginning to kneed the tense muscles. She sighed as his expert fingers sought out and worked on the knots, enjoying the feeling of his hands on her skin even if there was a shirt in the way. He paused for a moment to move a stray curl out of the way, laying it gently on the other side of her neck as he moved to release the tension in her neck muscles. His attention was focused on the graceful curves of her body and his couldn't help but react, forcing him to clamp an iron fist on his emotions. He couldn't see this as anything more than it was.

He couldn't, but reverently wished he could.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimers – see Chapter 1.

Dr Elizabeth Weir fell into the first physically exhausted dreamless sleep she had managed to get in a very very long time. Recently she relied on the sedatives prescribed by Dr Beckett to get to sleep, and found they always left her feeling somewhat…foggy and medicated the next morning. Tonight, on conjunction with the wonderful shoulder massage John had given her after they had finished their allotted time of weapons training, she fell asleep almost before her head touched the pillow.

The next morning her alarm went off at 0530hours, starting her from her slumber and causing her to jerk awake. Instantly her body rebelled, making painfully known the number of muscles she had abused the previous day. She ached everywhere, and had made acquaintances with muscles she didn't even know she had. Knowing John would be waiting for her she dragged herself out of bed and slipped into her workout gear, wondering if John had any idea how much discomfort he had caused her.

The look on Sheppard's face as she tried to walk with some degree of normality down the east pier was something akin to pity. Her legs ached, her butt ached, her stomach muscles ached, heck even her toenails ached. He knew, simply from the look on her face that she wasn't a happy camper, but then again, he knew the second day was always the worst.

" Hey" He said simply, rolling out the two foam mats on the concrete so they could begin their stretching routine.

" You are so enjoying this" Elizabeth grumbled in reply as she eased herself onto the thick foam,

" Yep" He quipped, easing into a seated quad stretch and waiting for her to follow.

" You know if it's any consolation… I know how you feel. The second day of boot camp was always the worst" He quickly added, hoping to avoid the glare that he knew was coming.

Elizabeth kept silent as she forced her muscles to lengthen in the stretches before climbing to her feet and glaring down the long east pier. John rolled the mats and stashed them in their usual storage area and bounced a few times on his toes to get the blood circulating. It was crisp this time of the morning, the slight breeze adding to the chill of the early morning. Elizabeth shivered, knowing that she would be blessing the cool temperature very soon as John put her through her paces. As predicted within minutes they had started their jog, setting the pace a fraction faster than yesterday's effort. Elizabeth focused on her breathing, trying to shove the discomfort of her body to the back of her mind. One foot in front of the other, coupled with a ragged breath, then one foot in front of the other.

The colour rose quickly in her pale skin, a healthy pink glow of exertion almost matching the pink cardigan she had tossed over her workout singlet in a vain attempt to keep warm earlier. This time the run lasted 5 minutes longer than their first run, but John made a decided effort to slow down in the last 10 minutes, settling into something little more than a slow jog in order to spare the last of her lagging strength. It would take time to build up fitness levels to a standard that would match a standard soldier, which was ultimately his aim. By the time he was through, he would have no only a boss who would be capable of holding her own and defending herself, but hopefully a workout partner for his early morning training sessions. Not that he didn't mind Ronon's company, it would be nice not to be left lagging behind someone bigger, stronger and very much faster for once.

Finally Sheppard slowed to a walk, keeping his long strides eating up the ground as they headed out from the piers and back into the city complex. Another 10 minutes of stairs and hallways lead them to the gym for a light weights session and more stretching.

Finally they were done and Elizabeth shrugged back into her cardigan, pulling a face as the movement pulled on her sore shoulders. Push-ups had never been her strong point, and although John had allowed her to do the sets on her knees for the first week, she knew the time for toes would not be far away. John winced in sympathy as he saw her face contort, inwardly feeling terrible that he had wilfully caused her this pain.

" Hey… I'll do a deal with you " He started before he had even thought the idea through properly. " After your self defence session with Teyla tonight, I'll give you a proper massage, I'm sure I can borrow Kate's portable massage table for the evening, for our illustrious leaders well being of course" John graced her with a mock bow, wondering if she would accept his offer. He'd fought the urge to allow his hands to wander the night before, knowing that sooner or later his feelings would be unable to remain hidden. Her reaction to this new idea would give him some insight as to where her feelings might lie.

" You know how to give a proper massage?" She asked, eyebrows arching in surprise at his suggestion.

" Thought it would help me pick up more girls…" He replied with a flippant attitude and a boyish smile.

" I'd like that" She replied softly after a moment, giving him a shy smile that totally belied her status in the city.

John's heart gave several backflips of joy and he struggled to retain the somewhat neutral expression on his face. He allowed himself a flippant smile before picked up his gear and headed towards the door.

" I'll see you at 2100 hours…. Your quarters or mine?" He asked casually, shouldering the gym bag.

" Mine. Much more space" She said simply, giving him a smile that made him want to curl up and die in happiness.

" Deal" John tossed over his shoulder as he headed back to his quarters for a shower and breakfast. Somehow he knew this day was going to be wonderful, no matter what the Pegasus Galaxy threw at him.


End file.
